Political parties react to UPA government's ordinance

Political opponents of the UPA swung into action on Wednesday to claim the entire credit for the centre’s volte-face on the ordinance with some parties also using this opportunity to dub Manmohan Singh as a “weak Prime Minister”. HT reports.

Political opponents of the UPA swung into action to claim the entire credit for the centre’s volte-face on the ordinance with some parties also using this opportunity to dub Manmohan Singh as a “weak Prime Minister”.

"It has nothing to do with morality, legality, validity constitutionality. It is the sheer power of dynasty before which the Prime Minister and the cabinet meekly submitted," said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad after the cabinet withdrew the ordinance on Wednesday.

The BJP had rushed to President Pranab Mukherjee last Wednesday opposing the ordinance.

CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta too, hit out at the PM: "he has once again proved to be a shadow Prime Minister."

The biggest communist party of the country, CPI(M) however adopted a much milder tone. CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury observed that better sense has “finally prevailed” in the government as some parties had opposed the government’s plan to bring an ordinance.

Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) that supports the Congress at the centre, however, struck a different note and slammed the UPA government for its u-turn on a "well-thought out" decision.

SP parliamentarian Naresh Agrawal also said that Wednesday’s cabinet decision also signaled that "one individual is bigger than the government", in a jibe directed at Rahul Gandhi.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi claimed that the government acted under her party’s pressure.